Upgrading

[beatme101]

Hope you don't mind my cross-posting from
microsoft.public.win2000.general, but I feel I will get more responses
from this here group, and it's not like I can delete the old one. (Not
to mention I completely forgot about this particular one until now..)
So then, on with it:

I'm planning on updating my computer, and want some opinions and/or
suggestions.

Note that I am an Intel/ATI person, although considering how AMD
bought ATI you might be able to convince me to choose nVidia
(although
I didn't leave Google even though they partnered with AOL <.<).


Currently I am on:
2.6 GHz Pentum 4
1.5 GB DDR RAM (I think it's 400 MHz)
256 MB ATI RADEON 9550 AGP video card
http://beatme101.com/images/xblade.jpg
An old, but still quite good 17 inch Compaq FS740 monitor that maxes
at 1280*1024*32@60.


I have 3 hard drives, which I plan to transfer to the new rig.
They're
fast drives (all 7200 RPM), 2 IDE and 1 SATA. ~740 GB (40 + 300 +
400)
total. Running Windows 2000 Professional.


I'm looking at getting:
2.0 GHz (or higher?) Core 2 Duo
Some sort of PCI-Express video card.
A new case, so I won't have to empty out my current one. Hopefully
the
new one will be a good looking one, since my current one certainly
is.
An LCD screen of some sort, maybe. If I have the money left for it.
A power supply capable of powering what's going to be in there.


My budget is kind of small, I'm hoping for somewhere around $400
(CAD)
(by the end of this month I should have that), but I could save up to
something over $560 by the beginning of November.. If I manage to buy
the new stuff at $400, then by November I'll probably get that LCD
screen. I've been told by one store (don't remember the name, they
don't have a web site) that I can obtain a 2 GHz Core 2 Duo with
motherboard and heat sink for $250.


I'm fairly sure that the processor I'm looking at will smooth out
performance in this game I just got, Supreme Commander (you may have
seen a topic I had about that earlier today). However, what I'm more
worried about is getting high definition video to play smoothly.
Currently that doesn't work so well on my computer, getting very far
out of sync in mere seconds (and that's just 1280*[email protected]). I use
Media Player Classic to play my videos. I'm curious as to whether or
not media players (such as MPC) are good at making use of dual core
processors, or if I would have to get a considerably higher clock
speed to handle it..


Also, does Windows 2000 Professional support quad core processors, or
would it only make use of 2 cores (due to the license only supporting
two processors, and Windows 2000 seeing each core as a whole
processor
unit in it's own socket)? Not that I expect to be able to afford one
of those any time this year..


Some time after I do all this I might turn the old one into a Linux/
Win98 dual boot machine, to play with archaic TV tuners (and maybe
even The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, which was an awesome game but
quite dated), and explore the world of Linux.


Whew, I think I wrote too much. Maybe I should sum it up in one word
for people who don't want to read it all: AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

 

[peter]

Isn't upgrading fun!!!
Seems to me you need 4 parts......mobo...DDR2 Ram......Chip..and Video
Card......with a $400/500 price cap that really limits the choices.
This is one of my favorite online Can. computer store...reasonable
prices...quick shipments....very good customer service.
http://www.ncix.com/

this board is great if you wish to stick with ATI
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24495&vpn=P5K&manufacture=ASUS

this ones if you want Nvidea video..with SLI capabilities
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=23809&vpn=GA-N650SLI-DS4&manufacture=Gigabyte

then you would need some good DDR2
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21778&vpn=PDC22G6400LLK&manufacture=Patriot

then a chip
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=25297&vpn=BX80557E6550&manufacture=Intel

Well we're already up to $450.00 Can Dollars and still need that video card
for the PCI-E slot...........remember you get what you pay for.
That $250 quote most likely is either older tech or really cheap
motherboard.
The p35 chipset on the Asus is new tech ,650 chipset on the Gigabyte is 6
month old tech.If your going to the new stuff DDR2 Ram is a requisite..if
your sticking with your DDR ram you have more choices of mobo but again the
new stuff uses DDR2. Now about those video cards..again choices that you
need to make.... better for HD or better for games??? which is more
important to you...a descent video card that would do both reasonably well
will set you back anywhere from $150 and up
I would suggest that you look at hardware evaluation sites and try to
determine what specifically you need.
good luck
peter

 

[beatme101]

Hmm.. Well, I was going with a cheaper motherboard because I wanted to
still have some money left over for other stuff.. I don't think I'll
be trying to deal with SLI or CrossFire any time soon, so I have no
urge for a motherboard capable of it. Especially since I'll be leaving
the computer on all the time, to host servers and such (multipurpose,
you see); imagine the power cost for that. My UPS might not like that
either.

The processor in the quote he gave me was likely a cheaper one, 2 GHz
core 2 duo, which is thus the E4400. Would you say the E6550 is a good
deal over the E4400? I've actually been thinking of getting that exact
higher one you linked instead (kind of eerie)..

DDR2 ram, huh.. It saddens me that that stuff is getting accepted,
because I believe that latency is very important, especially in
memory, and from what I hear DDR2 is considerably worse in that area.
(I hope something better than DDR3 comes along and prevents that one
from taking over.) Nonetheless, I am indeed planning on getting DDR2.
Dying support for DDR leaves me little option.

Can't order online, but the prices seem similar to the ones at the
particular shop I went to to get my quote, so that site is a good
reference.

Okay, I've done some calculations on my money, and I might be able to
gather up more than that. By the start of next month I should have
$482, and another month should leave me with up to $708 (I'm certainly
surprised and pleased to see this number). It also seems my parents
may support me if the cost is a little higher than my budget. I still
feel rather limited though, at least if I'm getting it by the $482
point..

Thanks so far, and hoping for more responses!


peter wote:

 

[peter]

here is a website that tested the cheapest P35 mobo with generic ddr2 ram
and a good Intel C2D chip
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=677&p=0
Notice that this mobo costs $50 less and paired with an Intel 4400 or 4500
processor you can save another $50.
So with the Ram at 95.00 ( I would not go below DDR2 6400)the mobo at 105
and the E4400 at 150 your down to 300.00 ...and you can Overclock.
The E6550 is a chip ..but like I said you get what you pay for.
I rebuild my system about every 2 years and look for parts that will last me
into the next build...the last time I upgraded I only needed to buy the
mobo,ram and chip...everything else was carried over from the power supply
to the HD's.
I wish you luck in whatever you decide....
peter

 

[DaveW]

Whenever you change the motherboard that has beeen used with a given
harddrive containing Windows, you MUST reformat the drive and do a fresh
install of the OS. Otherwise you can look forward to ongoing Registry
errors and data corruption.

 

[beatme101]

peter wote:

here is a website that tested the cheapest P35 mobo with generic ddr2 ram
and a good Intel C2D chip
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=677&p=0
Notice that this mobo costs $50 less and paired with an Intel 4400 or 4500
processor you can save another $50.
So with the Ram at 95.00 ( I would not go below DDR2 6400)the mobo at 105
and the E4400 at 150 your down to 300.00 ...and you can Overclock.
The E6550 is a chip ..but like I said you get what you pay for.
I rebuild my system about every 2 years and look for parts that will last me
into the next build...the last time I upgraded I only needed to buy the
mobo,ram and chip...everything else was carried over from the power supply
to the HD's.
I wish you luck in whatever you decide....
peter

Kind of a weird site, I couldn't find any second page link (making it
appear that the article ends before it begins), and got annoyed seeing
'forums' on there where it should say 'forum'.. Oh well. I'm not much
of an overclocking guy anyway.

Hmm. I wonder what exactly it is that I'd lose by choosing a lower end
motherboard..




DaveW wote:

Whenever you change the motherboard that has beeen used with a given
harddrive containing Windows, you MUST reformat the drive and do a fresh
install of the OS. Otherwise you can look forward to ongoing Registry
errors and data corruption.

Hm. There's no way I could ever format my hard drives, not any of
them. Valuable data, you see. On the other hand, I could buy a new
hard drive and install new on that one, and gradually copy stuff over
as I realize I need/want it. I'm still moving the other two drives
over (big ones), they don't have OS installations on them.

 

[Ed M.]

Whenever you change the motherboard that has beeen used with a given
harddrive containing Windows, you MUST reformat the drive and do a fresh
install of the OS. Otherwise you can look forward to ongoing Registry
errors and data corruption.

Sheeze Dave.......enough already.............

Ed

 

[JAD]

Sheeze Dave.......enough already.............

Ed

Dave's meditation mantra..........................

 

[Fishface]

beatme101wrote:

256 MB ATI RADEON 9550 AGP video card

That's your biggest problem right there.

Another option to building a system now that you may regret is to get
a new used video card. An ATI X800 or X850 is pretty expensive
on eBay, but you could get this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330162412157

....and possibly unlock and overclock it:
http://firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_6800_unlocking/page12.asp

I have one here in my son's computer and it plays h.264 encoded HD
video smoothly with the Quicktime player, and Battlefield 2 is playing
very nicely at 1280 x 1024 on high quality with AA off (Pentium M
at 2.4 GHz).

 

[Thomas Wendell]

peter wote:

Kind of a weird site, I couldn't find any second page link (making it
appear that the article ends before it begins), and got annoyed seeing
'forums' on there where it should say 'forum'.. Oh well. I'm not much
of an overclocking guy anyway.

Hmm. I wonder what exactly it is that I'd lose by choosing a lower end
motherboard..

The navigation to the second and subsequent pages is at the bottom of the
page (after the ads)...

DaveW wote:

Hm. There's no way I could ever format my hard drives, not any of
them. Valuable data, you see. On the other hand, I could buy a new
hard drive and install new on that one, and gradually copy stuff over
as I realize I need/want it. I'm still moving the other two drives
over (big ones), they don't have OS installations on them.

--
Tumppi
=================================
A lot learned from these newsgroups
Helsinki, FINLAND
(translations from/to FI not always accurate
=================================

 

[beatme101]

Well, guess I'll post an update on my situation so far.
My specs are to be this:
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6550
RAM: 2 GB DDR2-667
Not sure what the motherboard is.. It's a cheaper one, I think it was
around $90 or $100.
Also forget what the video card is, but it's a fairly good one,
although a few months used. (I think it's MSI; not alot of info about
this on the internet..)

I'm having the store install all the parts for me. Here's where it
gets interesting: Parts keep failing. They've been through several of
the motherboard so far, and now they're ordering new everythings. I
was supposed to get the computer about a week ago, now, once again,
I'm waiting for tomorrow's report.. They say this never happenned
before, and that it usually only takes about 45 minutes and it's all
ready to go. Haven't decided on a primary hard drive yet, but it'll
probably be a mere 7200 rpm something. Hopefully SATA, since I'm
already going to carry over two PATA devices..